The War of the Worlds

2019 | Drama | Sci-Fi

A mini-series TV adaptation of the H.G. Wells story, where Earth is attacked by an alien force, and is set in Edwardian London



Network BBC
Cast Rafe Spall, Eleanor Tomlinson, Freya Allan, Robert Carlyle, Rupert Graves and Woody Norman

Main Image Courtesy: BBC.
Background Image Courtesy: BBC.
Images And Data Courtesy Of: BBC.
This content (including text, images, videos and other media) is published and used in accordance with Fair Use.

Season listing
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LeftSideCut

Added this item on Sep 29, 2019

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The War of the Worlds Reviews & Ratings (36)
9-10
19.4% (7)
7-8
50.0% (18)
5-6
16.7% (6)
3-4
13.9% (5)
1-2
0.0% (0)

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The War of the Worlds reviews from people you don't follow
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Awix (3310 KP) rated

Dec 2, 2019  
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
2019 | Drama, Sci-Fi
Grisly non-adaptation of the immortal H.G. Wells story retains the same basic premise and the very occasional moment, but essentially scoops out the innards of the actual novel and replaces them with indescribably turgid attempts to (I would guess) update the story and make it relevant to the modern world.

Part of a grim tradition where BBC attempts to adapt SF, fantasy and horror classics operate to different standards than when they are tackling Austen or Dickens. If the team who perpetrated War of the Worlds got their hands on Pride and Prejudice, it would end up being a lesbian romance between the Bennets' maid and one of the minor daughters, performed on ice, with a frame story concerning the Boer war. It's not just that it does the book badly, it genuinely doesn't seem interested in it at all. Someone gets a leaden, clumsy speech articulating the subtext of the novel (how to adapt a great book for the hard-of-thinking) but as to what this version of the story is supposed to be about or why we should care at all... It takes real skill and determination to screw up a classic piece of literature quite this badly.
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated

Dec 6, 2019  
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
2019 | Drama, Sci-Fi
Wasted talent & story
I really can't understand what the BBC were thinking with this one. A great story and a really good cast, completely squandered.

The first episode started off slowly but well with quite a decent build up. Even when the martians appeared it was rather tense and exciting, with a great sense of foreboding. The problem with this is the main George & Amy storyline. Despite it being set in the Edwardian period, slightly earlier than the book (but still a lot closer than that Tom Cruise abomination) they seem to have decided to ignore the majority of the book's storyline and instead include a rather convoluted and modern storyline about George and his mistress. It's entirely unnecessary and is the main focus of the series, despite it being a complete bore. This is the main issue with the 2nd and third parts of the series, they're so dull and there's no interest or excitement because it concentrates solely on George and Amy. The martians are almost an after thought. It doesnt help either that they try and explain the subtleties and intricacies of the book with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Even the cast can't save this, as they seem to have given up on trying to put in believable performances. And what was with the flitting between different time periods? Trying to include a bit of intrigue with a storytelling mechanism that has worked so well with other films but fails miserable in this, as it spoils the entire ending and resolution of the story.

A classic case of looks good, starts off well but falls completely flat. Such a disappointment.
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Erika (17789 KP) Dec 6, 2019

This hasn't premiered in the US yet, but I'm def going to hard pass on it after reading your review. Why squander the amazing story??
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) created a video

Sep 29, 2019  
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The War of the Worlds - Trailer

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Otway93 (580 KP) rated

Apr 19, 2020  
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
2019 | Drama, Sci-Fi
Casting (1 more)
Special Effects
Story (1 more)
The Martians Reveal
Drawn out, dull, and not worthy of it's own title.
On first hearing about a new adaptation of War of the Worlds set in the original time and place as the book, I was incredible excited, as for some reason it has never been done.

Unfortunately, I, and my entire family were disappointed.

It's quite hard to review this without spoilers, as the main issue here is really the story, which has been so drawn out and distorted from it is no longer the story I know and love, but a show merely "based on" the book.

There are several critical differences in this story and the original story:
- The fates of different characters.
- The addition of pointless characters.
- The slow, intense reveal of the Martian invaders.

Despite these differences, the show could still have been enjoyable if it was not so drawn out. Without all the filler content, the whole thing could easily have been wrapped up into a much better 90 minute TV movie. Instead, the BBC drew it out in to 3 3 hour episodes that could bore the hind AND FRONT legs off a donkey.
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